By Eddie Quezada, News Channel 3 Reporter
equezada@kesq.com

PALM SPRINGS - Local veterinarian W. Douglas Kunz says it's that time of the year again.

"It is common. It is common in unvaccinated pets," says Kunz.

He's talking about Parvovirus, or simply Parvo, a disease currently the most common infection of dogs in the U.S.

"It's a viral infection that causes ulcerations of the intestinal tract and so these dogs don't absorb food very well, they get diarrhea and vomiting," Kunz says.

Veterinary clinics in the valley say they are seeing a rise in people bringing in their sick dogs, but nothing like it used to be.

 "We don't see the numbers of cases we saw 20 years ago, it was an epidemic. Now we've vaccinated enough of the pets that it tends to be strictly in young pets," says Kunz.

To treat the bug dogs are given fluids intravenously and other medications to stop the vomiting since it's dehydration that ultimately kills them. And while it is a deadly disease, it is not unpreventable.

"The important thing with the Parvovirus is that with a new puppy you start vaccination at eight weeks of age and we usually give a series of vaccinations at three to four week intervals until the puppy is 16 to 20 weeks old," Kunz says.